Journal of progress on my 1935 Ford pickup hot rod build

04/24/2014

Headers by Jimmy White

I haven't posted many updates these past couple weeks as the car took a bit of a fieldtrip over to Circle City Hot Rods in Orange California. Shop founder Jimmy White was kind enough to fit the truck in to fabricate exhaust headers and it turned out great in my opinion. It was nice to meet another hot rodder who's also a genuinely good guy.

Rudy Rodriguez (left) and Jimmy White discuss the plan of attack as the truck arrives at Circle City Hot Rods

This pic of the Oldsmobile 303 header flange illustrates some of the problems Jimmy faced. The round exhaust port at the front is no problem, but how to deal with the oval one in the middle? Also, the rear port is tucked completely behind the cab and firewall leaving very little room for the rear pipe to make the corner and exit the engine bay

To tackle the oval pipe in the middle Jimmy simply flayed a piece of the 1 5/8" tubing open to fill the flange's center port

Next, the gaps in the stub are filled in with similar 3/8" thick material to complete the job

As the job nears completion this overhead shot provides a good look at the exhaust layout. Note the rear pipe to the right of the picture - Jimmy did a nice job routing it without modifying the firewall or starter placement

The three tubes still need to be welded together so they don't rattle around at speed. Jimmy will hide those final modifications so not to disturb the wicked shotgun appearance